17 Jan 2008

2008 has already proved to be a challenging year for The Angels!

On top of having to become electricians overnight in order to deal with the power problems they have faced from the outset, our Angels are now self- taught mechanics and plumbers as well!

As some of you may have noticed, their 'tracker'  - the thingamajig that lets us know where on earth they are and how they are progressing - has a tendancy to go on the blink and then this causes us lot back on land to freak out! Luckily the girls are much more pragmatic about such things and instead of panicking simply set about learning how to entirely dismantle the machine and put it back together again - without a man in sight - BRAVO!

But the Gods had it in for the Angels because the next thing they knew their boat was filling up with water! Discovering where the HOLE was became their first priority and soggy food was their first clue - it was coming from their 'store' and it was coming fast. Next up was what to do about it... the effort quickly turned to rescuing their food or else they were going to have to be rescued themsleves! Once they managed to salvage what food the could, they turned their attention towards plugging the leak. Well they plugged and plugged away at it until the job was done! and so far so good!

They then went from too much water to a lack of it ! Their watermaker - which desalinates the sea water and makes it drinkable- went up the spout! So back on went their plumbing caps and after much fiddling and swearing (from Angels- shame on them!) they got it functioning again...just before their stove decided to pack-up! Well who needs a stove anyway when you haven't got any food left to cook right? But by this point the Angels were dab hands at DIYing and bish-bash-bosh the stove was sorted in no time.

Oh there have been other challenges as well, Mother Nature hasnt' been so kind to them either. They haven't had the favourbale winds they've been waiting for - in fact its been quite the reverse - the winds pushing them in the wrong direction - and it sounds like they have been partial to a bit of the British weather out there too with day after day of GREY!

Then there are the sores, aches, pains and excess of hair (we will leave it at that) that have become part of daily life - but rest assured its not all doom and gloom out there! The girls work hard at keeping their spirits high and keeping their goal in mind. They know they have to step it up a gear if they are going to get to Antigua in good time and, more importantly, before their food runs out (!!) and they are certainly up to taking on that CHALLENGE! Amen.

Please keep checking back for more updates....